


Hermits United

by NimueOfTheNorth



Series: Shorts and Drabbles [3]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-31 18:36:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18597100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NimueOfTheNorth/pseuds/NimueOfTheNorth
Summary: A little rescue kitten helps Jack to verbalise a character quirk Aaron and Spencer are all too familiar with.





	Hermits United

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Picture Perfect Challenge based on the pics of the office and the 'Do not disturb' sign. The kitten was added for cuteness.

 

Aaron was cooking dinner while Spencer had gone to pick Jack up from his choir practice. Aaron was happy that Jack had settled in well after they moved into the house and he had switched schools. Jack had jumped on many of the extracurricular activities the school offered and made a bunch of new friends that way, many of whom lived close enough that they could just meet outside and play when the weather was good.

But lately, Jack had retreated and spent more time on his own when they were home when he used to be around his dad and then dad's new partner a lot. Jack loved Spencer, and as awkward as Spencer could still be about showing it, the feeling was entirely mutual, so the relationship and moving in together wasn't the issue. It was also a little early for puberty to rear its head, so Aaron was left clueless and slightly worried. He'd already asked if maybe all his activities were getting too much and if Jack wanted to drop something, ensuring that that would be perfectly fine, but Jack had insisted that he loved it all and didn't want to give anything up.

So Aaron was left to pondering what was going on with his son while steering the pasta sauce.

"Dad!" The door flew open, and there was an urgency to Jack's yell that had Aaron hurrying towards the entrance rather than reprimanding him for the commotion.

"What's wrong?" His instincts almost had him reaching for the weapon he wasn't carrying, but his heart rate was going back to normal when he saw both Jack and Spencer seemingly unharmed in the doorway. "What's going on?"

“We need to help her! Look!” Jack barely pushed aside the hoodie he had wrapped around himself and Aaron had to pull it further away to see a tiny and pathetic looking bundle of red-ish fur that he could only identify by the protesting _meow_.

"Jack found the kitten in a discarded box under some bushes. There was only the one, and it was shivering," Spencer explained.

“We need to take her to a vet. Please, dad! She’s so tiny and helpless.” Even without the copious application of puppy dog eyes, Aaron would have given in, because he’d always encourage Jack to help those in need.

"Let me turn off the stove, and maybe you can grab a towel for the little fluff ball."

Once Aaron had secured their food from getting ruined he found Jack vibrating with urgency to leave, and Spencer ending a call on his cellphone.

“I called the nearest vet clinic. They’re still open and expecting us.”

It was a little hassle to get the seatbelt around Jack who didn't want to let go of the weak sounding kitten for even a moment, but they got it done, and Spencer gave Aaron directions.ass

“Can I keep her?” The question wasn’t at all unexpected but not easy to answer.

"Let's hear what the doc has to say first. That kitten had a pretty hard start into life and might be very ill." Aaron didn't want to say outright that it might not make it, but he also didn't want Jack getting any more attached than he already was.

“But she’ll heal better in a good and loving home! Can we keep her, please?”

“We don’t even know if it is a girl cat yet, Jack,” Spencer tried to distract him.

"I don't care, but I think she's a she. Can we keep her?"

Aaron and Spencer exchanged looks, each knowing the answer already. They’d talked about the possibility of a pet, and a cat was in many ways easier for them to manage than a dog.

“Yes, buddy, if she’s doing well, we can keep her,” Aaron said and was rewarded with a blinding smile from the backseat.

"Thank you, dad! You're the best! Did you hear that, Donna? You have a home now, and you'll never have to sleep in wet boxes under bushes again. Though I've heard that cats like cardboard boxes, so I'll make sure that you have really cool ones."

Aaron suppressed a sigh and sent out a prayer that the little cat would make it. If Jack had already named it, the devastation would be terrible if it didn’t.

The trip to the clinic was a full success. The kitten was a bit weak from dehydration and cold but otherwise healthy. The vet wanted to keep her overnight to get her back on an even keel but was optimistic that they would be able to take her home the next day. Jack was beaming proudly when _Donna_ was written on the label for her cage as his feeling about the kitten being female had proven correct.

Dinner that night was filled with Jack’s chatter about all the things he wanted to buy and make for Donna. It wasn’t helped by Spencer being almost as excited, and Aaron just resigned himself to the inevitability of their house being turned into a DIY cat paradise.

The following weeks, Aaron noticed a new pattern. When kids from the neighbourhood came knocking to ask if Jack wanted to come outside and play with them, he'd often say he had to take care of Donna, even if the kitten was fast asleep on the cushion she'd claimed as hers in Aaron's office. He also used the need to care for his new pet as an excuse to quit the second soccer team he had initially joined when they'd moved.

At the same time, Jack seemed more inclined to spend time around him and Spencer downstairs again, though he would still retreat some evenings, Donna in tow. Those were usually the days he’d had one of his extra activities after school.

It was a Saturday when Aaron came home after a few hours of finishing urgent paperwork at the office that he found Spencer reading on the couch but no Jack in sight.

“Jack upstairs again?” He asked as he kissed Spencer’s cheek.

"Yeah. I actually had a little chat with him, and I think he didn't know how much like you he actually is. You'll see when you go up there."

Aaron furrowed his brows but trusted Spencer. He went upstairs to change into something more comfortable and noticed a new sign on the door to Jack’s bedroom. The carefully written words made Aaron smile a little ruefully.

He left it alone for now and went down to join Spencer on the couch.

“You two must have had an interesting chat.”

"A few of his friends came by and wanted to go to the park, and he used Donna again to get out of joining them. So I asked if he didn't like them anymore. Took him a little to find the right words but it came down to him sometimes feeling like he's just had enough people around him for the day or week. So I told him about introverts and extroverts and how introverts can be totally fun people who enjoy company but also need to get their alone time to recharge. He was worried you might be disappointed that he doesn't always want to be around others."

Aaron snorted at the thought. “How could I if he absolutely gets that from me. I just wish I’d have had parents who respected my personality.”

“I told him as much, though he’ll do better with confirmation from you directly.”

“Of course. The sign is a nice idea.”

"We thought so too. I figured it would help him to consciously make his needs known and see us respect them. We made three, yours is on your office door, and mine will go up once we finish converting the attic into a library." Spencer grinned at him before he dropped his feet into Aaron's lap and went back to his book.

Aaron dutifully started massaging the feet and chuckled. "We're quite the family of introverts. Hermits United, wasn't it? I just wish I could use Donna as an excuse when the brass wants me to go to some stupid networking opportunity."

“Please make sure I’m close by when you try that strategy,” Spencer teased and got his ankle pinched for his troubles.

  


**Author's Note:**

> For the non-Whovians amongst you: naming the kitten Donna and 'Hermits United' are both Doctor Who references.


End file.
